Has anyone dealt with something like this? I'm not sure what my options are.
Amazon suspended my seller account. I've been dealing with this for about 2 weeks now and the situation isn't improving.
The amount being held/disputed is approximately $10,986. I have tried contacting their legal department 5 times with no resolution.
Should I hire a lawyer for this or try to handle it myself?
Have you tried reaching out to your state's bar association? They sometimes have free resources or mediation services.
Following this thread — Same. 100% same. Please update.
Just want to point out — the statute of limitations might be a factor here. In some states it's as short as 1-2 years. Don't sit on this too long.
I mean following this thread — Are you me? Literally going through this rn.
Just want to point out — the statute of limitations might be a factor here. In some states it's as short as 1-2 years. Don't sit on this too long.
NAL, but from what I've read, you should document everything. That's the general rule anyway, exceptions exist.
NAL, but from what I've read, you should document everything. Standard disclaimer: talk to an actual attorney for your case.
Have you tried reaching out to your state's consumer protection office? They sometimes have free resources or mediation services.
Have you tried reaching out to your state's labor board? They sometimes have free resources or mediation services.
This is really helpful, thank you. I've been dealing with a similar situation and didn't know where to start. Saved this thread for reference.
Thanks for sharing. Dealing with something similar myself.
Same boat here, they hit me with a Section 3 deactivation and held a little over 8k. The thing nobody tells you is that the funds and the account reinstatement are two separate processes. You can sometimes get the money released even if the account stays dead.
Did they give you a specific reason code? That matters a lot for what your next move is.
Following. I'm at day 19 on a hold of around 14k and slowly losing my mind. Keep us posted on what actually moves the needle for you.
Not your lawyer and this isn't legal advice, just general information. With marketplace holds like this, the relationship is governed by the Business Solutions Agreement you accepted, which generally controls how and when funds are disbursed and usually includes an arbitration clause. So before anyone tells you to just sue, read what you actually agreed to.
Two practical points that apply in most situations. First, demand the funds in writing and reference the specific account and amount, because a paper trail matters if this escalates. Second, holds for suspected policy or chargeback risk are often time-limited under the agreement, so the deadline question cuts both ways. Have someone look at your specific agreement and facts.
Question for the OP, was the suspension tied to an A-to-z claim spike, an IP complaint, or a verification thing? Those go down totally different paths and the wrong fix wastes weeks.
One thing that helped me was pulling my disbursement report and payment statements before they could lock me out of the dashboard entirely. Screenshot everything now while you still have access.
I lost view of mine after the suspension hardened and it made proving the held balance a pain.
For the people saying just file in small claims, check your agreement first. A lot of these marketplace terms push you into arbitration and have a class action waiver, so small claims may not even be on the table depending on what you signed and where you are. Varies by situation.
$10,986 is real money and at that level I'd stop trying to win it back through chat support. I handled mine solo for the first month, then spent a few hundred on an attorney to send one firm demand letter and it shook loose in about two weeks.
Not saying that always works, but a letter on letterhead reads very differently than a seller ticket.
OP, did you get hit with the deactivation right after a big sales week? Mine froze right after my best month and I think the spike itself flagged the risk algorithm. Just a pattern I've noticed across a few of these threads.
Update for the thread since people asked me to report back: I went the written demand route after support stonewalled me for six weeks. Funds posted 17 days after the letter went out. Can't prove the letter caused it, but the timing was hard to ignore.
If you do it yourself, keep it short, factual, state the amount, give them a firm deadline, and send it where it gets read.
Late add but important: don't open a chargeback or dispute against Amazon through your own bank while the hold is active. A seller I know did that and it got read as a hostile signal and slowed everything down.
Work the policy appeal and the written demand in parallel instead. Good luck OP, this stuff is exhausting but a lot of us came out the other side with our money.